


Who Did You Really Last Snog?

by KahtyaSofia



Series: Captain's Blog - S1 [4]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: Countrycide, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-14
Updated: 2009-11-14
Packaged: 2017-10-02 18:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KahtyaSofia/pseuds/KahtyaSofia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of Countrycide</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Did You Really Last Snog?

The cold pack that Ianto held to the knot on his forehead didn't seem to be helping in the least. It was still swelling and looked like it bloody hurt! It looked like every inch of him was bruised. Tenderizing, Tosh had said they called it. Nothing about it seemed tender. That punch in the nose might not have broken it, but before it was over, he was going to have two blackened eyes. Owen swore he didn't have a concussion, but he'd taken a rifle butt in the face.

Jack shut off the engine of the SUV when they arrived at the Hub. The team all exited the vehicle in slow motion. No one said a word as they each moved off to their respective vehicles and fled to the safety and normalcy of their homes.  

"Bloody hell!" Jack heard Ianto mumble. He seemed to give up on the cold pack, needing both hands to locate whatever it was he was searching for. "Bollocks," he said to himself.

"Ianto?" Jack asked, his voice echoing in the cavernous car park. He saw Ianto jump at the sound.

"Sir?" Ianto sounded weary.

"Did you loose something?" Jack asked, walking slowly toward the younger man.

"I can't seem to locate my bloody car keys."

"Don't worry about your keys. You can look for them tomorrow." Jack put an arm around Ianto's shoulders and gently tried to steer him toward the Hub.

"I need to go, Sir." he protested.

"Where to? Why?" Jack questioned, still trying to urge the younger man to accompany him in to the Hub.

"Home. I need to go home."

"Come with me, Ianto. I'm not sure you could get yourself home safely in this condition."

Ianto relented and allowed himself to be led in to the Hub.

Jack sat Ianto down on the small sofa in the common working area and went to his office to shed his greatcoat. On his way back he brought along a crystal snifter containing an amber liquid. Jack placed it in to Ianto's trembling hand, and sat down on the table so he could see him clearly.

"So much for brilliant ideas." Jack said, under his breath. Guilt weighed heavily on him. As bad a day as it had been for the team, it could have been so much more disastrous. He'd led them right in to the viper pit and had mis-stepped at every turn just compounding the problems.

Ianto handed back the now empty glass. "Sir?"

He met Ianto's eyes with a self-deprecating smile. "Oh, I had the bright idea that bringing you along would help with team cohesion. It was supposed to get you out of the hub, the city, and help you to feel more a part of the team." Jack looked down at his boots and just shook his head slowly.

"You couldn't have known, Jack." Ianto said.

"It started going to hell from the start." Jack said, looking up at Ianto, again. "First, Owen didn't open his mouth that it wasn't to bitch and moan. Then our resident woman-child, Gwen started in with that 'who'd you last snog' game of hers and opened up a tanker truck sized can of worms." Jack rubbed tired eyes with the thumb and forefinger of one hand.

"She and Owen were so busy eye-fucking; neither of them paid the least attention to who they were hurting." Ianto said quietly, resting his elbows on his knees in a mirror image of Jack.

"I hoped by not participating it would discourage the entire thing." Jack explained. "When it was obvious Tosh had gotten her feelings hurt I tried some humorous misdirection." He saw Ianto give a small smile at the memory. "They meant no harm." Jack finished.

"They don't _mean_ harm; they just don't care, really."

"That's not fair, Ianto!" Jack said sharply. "They kept wanting to set out and search for you and Tosh and I kept telling them 'no'." That was going to go down in Jack's personal history as one of his all-time biggest cock-ups.

 "That's beside the point, Jack." Ianto countered. "They played their little games with complete disregard for Tosh's or my feelings."

Jack glanced at Ianto, "Tosh still crushing on Owen?"

"Yes, Sir." He replied without looking up.

"She can do so much better. I wish she'd get over him, already."

They were silent for a length of time then; Jack spoke slowly, "So…why did you say that Lisa was the last person you kissed?" He had to ask, even though he feared the answer.

"To hurt and embarrass them."

Ianto's reply surprised Jack. "Why?"

"They had gone back to treating me like scenery again, and they caught Tosh up in their childish game this time, too."

Jack nodded in understanding. He'd watched Ianto's verbal exchange with Gwen from the corner of his eye, recognizing the pain and anger and fearing the old recriminations were surfacing. When Ianto had actually met his eyes, Jack hadn't been able to read what he was really thinking, and it had scared him.

"I was already in a sour mood, Gwen's game just made it worse." Ianto confessed.

"Why was that?" Jack wanted to know.

"Because I hate bloody camping and the last time I did camp was with Lisa!"

Jack felt realization dawn. "So, you were already smarting when you started to feel like you were being excluded again."

Ianto nodded.

"Then, you saw an opportunity to skewer Gwen and Owen and you took it." Jack's smile grew wider. "I like this knew Ianto that lashes out right when he gets angry, instead of keeping it all inside." It had to be healthier, at any rate.

Ianto gave a wan smile.

"I was afraid it was me you were lashing out at." Jack searched Ianto's face to gauge his reaction.

"Maybe, a little." Ianto conceded. "When you evaded the question, I thought you were ashamed to admit you'd snogged me."

Jack's head shot up, "Never!" Then he raised a hand to caress Ianto's cheek. "I was leaving it up to you." He scrubbed his face with both hands. "I was gob smacked when you dropped the line about Lisa." He admitted. "I thought we were past all that, and then I was sure I saw accusation in your eyes again." Jack sighed heavily. "It scared me."

Ianto lifted Jack's face and placed a tender kiss on his lips. "I do still miss her, from time to time."

Jack placed a quick, hard kiss on Ianto's mouth. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." With that, he stood and held a hand out for the young man. Ianto took the offered hand and followed his Captain.

Jack was sure that a hot shower was just what Ianto needed. He stood watching Ianto beneath the spray as he let it cascade down over him taking the grime of the day down the drain.

Ianto opened his eyes. Jack stood in the open shower door partly to make sure Ianto was okay, and partly just to take in the pleasing sight of him naked and wet. Ianto turned off the spray, then looked back to meet Jack's eyes.

"Sir?" Ianto inquired, somewhat breathlessly.

Jack proffered a towel, and then stepped forward to secure it around Ianto's hips. He paused to run gentle fingers over the angry bruises on the young man's ribs and chest. His facial injuries had been just the tip of the iceberg.

"You know," Jack said quietly, "After we split up, Gwen and Owen kept trying to convince me to come after you and Tosh." He brushed his finger over one of the more severe wounds on Ianto's face. "I kept refusing; saying that you two weren't children and that you knew what you were doing." Jack paused over a particularly nasty purple bruise. "I kept telling myself that you needed me to have faith in you to do what you had to do." His hand fell away from Ianto's face. "What I really wanted to do was say 'to hell with it all' and run to make sure you were okay."

"In the end, that's just what you did." Ianto pointed out.

Jack snorted and Ianto smiled. "Only after I lost Gwen and Owen, in addition to you and Tosh." He brought his hands up to frame Ianto's face. He found himself staring down at the younger man's sensual mouth, unable to tear his eyes away. "Deep down though, I was afraid of what I would see in your eyes when I saw you again."

"Jack? How did you know where to find us?" Ianto asked. "Tosh and I didn't even know where they had taken us to."

Jack took up a second towel and moved to stand behind Ianto and began to dry the younger man's hair. It was a move designed to keep Ianto from being able to see the shadow that passed over Jack's face. "I used my powers of persuasion."

"The man from the cellar that one of you shot?"

"Mmmm." Jack replied noncommittally.

"How did you get him to tell you?"

"You don't need to know that, Ianto. I found you and that's all that matters."

"But at what cost to yourself, Jack?"

Jack's hands stilled on Ianto's head momentarily as the younger man's perceptivity amazed him. He tossed aside the towel in hands and moved back around to stand in front of Ianto, but unable to look him in the eye. "No cost would be greater to me than loosing you. Especially if that were to happen because I hesitated to do something that might be…..distasteful." Still not looking in to Ianto's eyes but admiring his full lower lip, Jack gave in to the urge to nibble that lip lightly.

Jack felt Ianto shiver slightly, possibly due to the chill air on his damp skin but just maybe, due to Jack's teeth and tongue teasing along his lower lip. "Let's get you dried off, warmed up and tucked in to bed."

Jack's body pressed along the entire length of Ianto's. Wrapping an arm around his waist to secure him more closely to his chest, Jack felt Ianto relax down in to the bed. With his other hand, he began to gently stroke Ianto's damp hair. "I think you became Tosh's hero today." Jack said teasingly.

Ianto was silent for so long, Jack thought he'd fallen asleep. "I was so scared at first."

"With good reason." Jack replied, placing a soft kiss on the side of Ianto's neck.

"I got mad at Tosh for being like all you lot; excited by the danger." Jack continued to silently stroke Ianto's hair. "When she found all the body parts, I stopped being afraid and just started trying to find a way out, or at the very least, give Tosh a chance to get out."

"The way I hear it, you did just that."

"I thought all was lost when the villagers dragged her back in along with Owen and Gwen. I guess all we needed was to buy ourselves enough time for you to come find us."

Jack buried his face in Ianto's warm neck and inhaled deeply of the younger man's scent, memorizing it, just in case. Today was really too close of a call for Jack's comfort. His anger had him focused on the villagers at first, until he had seen a battered and bruised Ianto, slowly being untied by Toshiko. He closed his eyes against the memory. When he realized the man in his arms was breathing deep and steady in sleep, Jack whispered in to the skin of Ianto's neck, "I will always come find you."


End file.
